Beverage stirrer



May 28, 1957 J. H. BACON BEVERAGE STIRRER Filed Feb. 16, 1956 IrIII/I/l/l/l/l/f i r .r

F/5.7 PVC-7.5

INVENTOR. dorm H. BACON F/ 5. 9 F/ 5. m 4 Ezsma. Won

0!: Arron/m United States atent BEVERAGE STIRRER John H. Bacon,Wellesley Hills,.Mass.

Application February 16, 1956, Serial No; 565,879

13 Claims; (Cl. 259144) The present invention relates to an. improvedbeverage stirrer. In the recent past, there has. been an increased useof beverage stirrers, principally cocktail beverage stirrers foradvertising promotion Ordinarily, these stirrers are dispensed withcocktails in lounges, barroomsand. the like. and very often bear an:advertisingemblem or insignia.

In many establishments; because of the cheapnessiof the stirrer, themanagement is' quite willing; and desirous of having: the customer takethe. beverage stirrer with himas asouvenir. Such a distribution may, ofcourse; be of, substantial advertising. benefit; One of: thedifficulties, however, which deter individuals from taking thesebeveragestirrers as souvenirs is their size and their complete lack of utilityexcept asbeveragestirrers; It is, therefore, an object of thepresentinvention to-aprovide a beverage stirrer which is particularlyappealingto an.indi.vidual as a souvenir and which may bermanufacturedinv suchaform' as to bear advertising matter of. the establishment inwhich the stirrer is'dispensed;

Another object of the present inventionis. to provide a beverage.stirrer of'particular appeal to a. consumer which may be manufactured atsubstantially no greater expense than beverage. stirrers heretoforeknown. In' this connection it should be noted'that the beveragestirreris made in'two interlocking but separable sections-with eachsection adapted to be removed" and replaced by another. Bythis'structure, there isprovided a beverage stirrer in which one halfmaybe re-used' -with"a-replacedother section in the event that a' consumertakes with him only a-portion of the entire unit. It is also intendedthat the present invention be so designed asto provide a structurewhich: is separable from the main body portionof the-stirrer and is ofsuch a design as to beparti'cularly appealing: tov thev consumer.

Afurther object of the present invention isto provide a'beveragestirrerhavingaahandle portion which serves; in: addition to functioning as ahandle for the stirrer, to function-asan individual and separableobject;

A still further object of the present invention is to provideabeverag'el stirrer having a handle member in'the fornr of a whistlewhich may, if desired, be used toattract the attention of an individualsuch as a waiter.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a beverage stirrerutilizing a handle having a keyring form separable from the main portionof the stirrer and adapted to. be used independently of thestirrer'body;

One more object of the present invention is to'provide a beveragestirrer having a handle member. providing a spinner top which, whenblown upon, will produceoptical illusions.

One moreobject of the present invention is to provide a" beveragestirrer separable in twosections so'that handles of various shapes,stylesand functions may beattached to? the. bodyas desired and removedtherefrom as desired in which the interlocking means-provides a' rigid2,793,842 Patentedv May 28,- 1-957- 2 interlocking grip betweenthebeverage stirrer body and the attached handle. v

In this structure, the beverage stirrer body is? formed of a rigidplastic material, such as polystyrene, and has formed" at its upper enda male projecting probe. The attachedhandle isprovided with a lockingfemale mem-. ber formed of a flexible plastic material, such aspolyethylene, which is. adapted tov engage rigidly the male probe. Bythistype of structure, a beverage stirrer of inexpensive design andmanufacture may readily be made and. assembled with substantially nogreater expense than those heretofore knowna These and otherobjects ofthepresentinvention will be. considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings in. which:

Figured is an elevation of the invention showing, thehandle,separatedfrom theabodyof thestirrer,

Figure-2 is- .-a cross-sectional elevation-takensubstana tially alongthealine 2-2 of Figure 1 showing the-handle portion,-

Figure. 3. tea. front elevation of a modification of the invention,

Figure, 4 is a cross-sectional fragmentary detail; of the handleshowniiniFigure 3,

Figure 5 'isa fragmentary'fronta elevation .of-..a-modification of theinvention,

Figure 6 isJa side elevation in fragmentary: form: ofthe modificationshownin Figure 5,

Figure 7' shows'a plan view of'a. detailofthe modifiea' tion shown in:Figure 5,-

Figure 8 shows a modification of: the invention in a side fragmentary.plan. view,

Figure 9" showsna front fragmentary elevation of a modification ofthe'invention, and

Figure 10 shows a side fragmentary elevation of the modification shownin Figure 9.

The beverage stirrers of the present invention are formed in twosections, a stirring body section; and? a handle section. In eachinstance the stirrer body is made of a rigid or substantially rigidplastic material, such as polystyrene, while thehandle section in eachinstance is made of a flexible material, such as polyethylene. Thepurpose of manufacturing these beverage, stir-J "ice rersinithis fashionis to provide integral locking members. with the body and handle adaptedto engageone. another and secure these'two parts together'rigidly' untila determined effort'is m-adeto-= separate them. The purpose of makingthe body ofrigid'material and'the handle of flexiblematerial,rather'than viceversa, isj'merely because a rigid stirring member isnormally desired, while the handle does not necessarilyhave' to havethis, quality. Thus, by providing a member of. flexible'ma-. terial anda member of rigid material, one half of the locking device maybe-made'flexible toreceivethe locking member of the other half of the.beverage stirrer;

In the embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in Figure 1,there is illustrated-a stirrer body 1 with the handle member 2. Thisbody of the stirreris formed as stated of a rigid plastic material,such' as polystyrene, and has formed at its lower end a knob 3' or somesimilar member; The main portion of'this body has preferably a circularcross section" and. atlits upper end is provided with a male lockingprobe" 41 This probe has-a pair of oppositely arranged-projecting, knobs5 formed at its'end. As the stirrer bodies shown in Figures 1 and 3 areidentical and as thejsti'rrer'b'ody shown in Figure 3 is turned'toanangle of" from that? shown in Figure 1, the knobs '5' maybe seen insideview in Figure 3. Towards the rear of the'probe 4', there is anoutwardly fiared section'6 on' either side ofthe probe, This outwardlyflared section 6 is designed t'ooccupy' 3 a the bevelled opening on thefemale section of the look so as to provide a snug and tightinterlocking fit.

In the modification illustrated in Figure 1, the handle section 2 isformed of a flat and preferably rectangular piece of flexible plasticmaterial, such as polyethylene. At one side of this handle 2 there isprovided an integral female locking section 7. Thislocking section 7consists essentially of a ball-like enlargement having a recess opening8 tapering at its inner end towards a pair of opposite transverselocking edges 9. Each of these locking edges 9 are at the lower edge ofwall members defining a portion of opposite'openings 10. The main bodyof the handle 2 is preferably provided witha depressed center recesssection 11, preferably in a rectangular'form. This depressed section '11has undercut side edges as indicated at 12. This undercut side edgestructure should be such 'as to permitthe insertion of cards or plasticelements having the same shape as the depressed section and havingsubstantially the same size as this section. The overhang on the sideedges should be sufiicient to retain a card or similarly insertedmaterial within the depressed section once it has been pressed or forcedfit into this area. This depressed section is provided primarily toreceive printed advertising cards which may be printed quite cheaply onsquare or rectangular pieces of paper or cardboard corresponding to thesize and'shape of these depressed sections. If desired, a hole 13 may beprovided at the upper end of the handle.

The male probe on the body of the stirrer fits securely into the femalesection of the handle by forcing the probe into the recess 8 until theknobs pass the transverse edges 9 and are secured thereby in theopenings 10. The female section should have its transverse edges 9spaced apart just sufiiciently far enough as to grip the base of theknobs 5 and should further have the angle of the recess 8 such as to fitsnugly about the members 6. When thus engaged, the handle 2 may be usedtogether with the body 1 as a unitary structure. When separated,however, the handle 2 assumes the added function of a key chain ornamentor identifying card holder with the hole 13 being provided to receive achain or the like.

In Figures 3 and 4, there is provided a handle member 20 particularlyadapted for use when separated from the body portion 1 as a key holderor key ring. In this structure, the handle 20 is provided at its lowerend with a double female locking member 21. This double locking. femalemember 21 provides two halves, each identical to the other and eachadapted to receive a male locking probe. The female member consists of apair of recesses 23 tapered from the opening to a pair of oppositelocking edges 24 in each recess. Each pair of locking edges 24 is formedin opposite sides of the female locking member and form portions of theopenings 25 on either side of these halves of the female lockingsection. This structure is substantially identical to that shown inFigure 1 with the exception that it is duplicated to form two femalemembers.

One of these recess openings 23 is adapted to receive the male probe ofthe body 1, while the other is adapted to receive the loop member 27which is provided with a male probe similar to that shown at the end ofthe body 1. The other end of the loop member 27 is formed integrallywith a fiat enlarged portion 28 of the handle at the top end of thisenlarged portion 28. Thus, in this modification, the handle may be usedin connection with the body 1 as a unitary structure or may bedisengaged from it and used as a key ring structure in which keys arereadily inserted on the loop member 27 by the simple. expedient ofdisengaging the male probe of the member 27 from its female lockingrecess, inserting the keys and then re-engaging this member.

In Figure 5, there is shown a further modification in which the body 1is secured to a flat flexible plastic handle section 30 by a lockingmale and female section 31 similar to that as previously described. Thehandle section 30 is formed with an enlarged flat surface adapted toreceive advertising material and is provided with a recess section 32,shown in Figure 7, at its upper center section. This recess 32 isconnected to an opening 33 by a slot 34. A whistle 35 having a loop 36is adapted to fit snugly within this recess 32 with the loop 36 passingthrough the hole 33. As the handle section 30 is flexible, this whistle35 may readily be inserted in position by deforming the handle sectionuntil the sides of the slots 34 are forced apart and the loop 36 may beforced into the hole 33. The whistle may be removed by a reverseprocedure. By this expedient, the whistle may readily be removed fromthe main portion of the handle section 34) and utilized separately.

In Figure 8, there is shown a further modification in which the whistle40 is formed with a female locking member 41 similar to the femalelocking section 7 shown in Figure 1. This whistle is made of a flexibleplastic material, such as polyethylene, and may be secured to the bodyof the stirrer 1 in the manner as previously described. This whistle 40should be somewhat elongated so as to act as a handle element when thestirrer is used as a unitary structure.

In Figure 9, there is shown a modification of the present invention inwhich the body 1 of the stirrer has secured to it a spinner element 50.This spinner element should be of generally flat and enlarged structureso as to form a handle element. The spinner is secured to the body 1 byinterlocking male and female members similar to those previouslydescribed. In this modification, the spinner is provided with a pair ofarms 51 and 52 arranged with inwardly projecting bosses 53, with theseinwardly extending bosses 53 adapted to fit into recesses or hollows inthe center disc 54. These bosses 53 support the spinner or disc 54 forfree rotation so that an individual, by blowing the lower portion of thedisc 54, may cause it to rotate rapidly. In this type of structure, whena rapid rotation is obtained, images imprinted on either side of thedisc 54 will, through the action of persistence of vision, appear tofuse together; thus, as indicated, the lettering on the face shown inFigure 9 will fuse together with the lettering on the reverse side toform a complete sentence. This type of handle may, therefore, be removedfrom the body 1 and used as a charm or toy.

If the article is to be used as a charm, it may be secured to a stringor the like through the opening 56 which is formed as an enlargedportion of the transverse openings in the female locking section.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. A beverage stirrer having a body section made of rigid material and aseparate handle made of flexible material, a probe formed on one end ofthe body section as an integral part thereof, a pair of outwardlyextending knobs formed on opposite sides of the probe, a recess formedin one end of the handle and receiving the probe, and a pair of oppositeand outwardly extending openings formed in the sides of the recess andreceiving the knobs when the probe is inserted into the recess.

2. A-beverage stirrer having a body section and a separate handle, aprobe formed on one end of the body section as an integral part thereof,a pair of outwardly extending knobs formed on opposite sides of theprobe, a recess formed in one end of the handle receiving the probe, anda pair of opposite and outwardly extending openings formed in the sidesof the recess and receiving the knobs when the probe is inserted intothe recess.

3. A beverage stirrer comprising a body made of polystyrene and aseparate handle made of polyethylene, a probe formed on one end of thebody section as an integral part thereof, a pair of outwardly extendingknobs formed as part of and on opposite sides of the probe,v

a recess formed in one end of the handle receiving the probe, and a pairof opposite and outwardly extending openings extending from the sides ofthe recess through the handle and receiving the knobs when the probe isinserted into the recess.

4. A beverage stirrer comprising a body section and a separate handle, aprobe formed on one end of the body section as an integral part thereof,said probe having a flared portion adjacent the body section, a pair ofopposite and outwardly extending knobs formed on the outer end of theprobe, a recess formed in one end of the handle and tapered inwardlyfrom its outer end, a pair of opposite and outwardly extending openingsformed in the sides of the recess and extending through the handle,whereby when the probe is inserted into the recess the knobs extend intosaid openings while the flared portion of the probe lies in the taperedportion or" the recess.

5. A beverage stirrer as in claim 1, wherein said handle is formed as aflat member with a depressed center section having undercut side edgesadapted to receive a card.

6. A beverage stirrer as set forth in claim 4 wherein said handlesection is provided with a second tapered recess having oppositeopenings like the first recess and said handle section is provided witha recess section formed to receive a whistle, and a whistle of a rigidplastic material removably connected to the handle in the recesssection.

9. A beverage stirrer as set forth in claim 1, wherein said handlesection has a pair of opposite arm members, a rotatable element, andmeans rotatably supporting said element between said arms.

10. A beverage stirrer as in claim 1 wherein said handle is formed as aflat member for hearing printed material.

11. A beverage stirrer as defined in dlaim 5 further characterized bysaid fiat member having an opening formed therein for receiving a keychain.

12. A beverage stirrer as defined in claim 4 wherein said handle isformed of a flat member with a depressed center section having undercutside edges adapted to receive a card.

13. A beverage stirrer as defined in claim 12 further characterized bythe flat member having an opening formed therein adapted to receive akey chain.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,701,132 Arnold et a1. Feb. 1, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 532,700 GermanySept. 3, 1931

